Gheorghe

I´m not really THE Guitar expert, I love to hear some good guitar solos in jazz combos of hard bop with let´s say Kenny Burrell or Wes, the guitar was not the most popular instrument in 1960´s free jazz, but in the 70´s when I grew up as a listener it was the fix part of fusion groups like Miles how I heard him then..... But nevertheless, though I don´t have heard about Norman Harris, I wish him well, it´s a drag to have a serious illness . I never had heard about chemo bath, but I hope very much that he will recover and don´t need chemo.

Thank you, that means my memory was right, that he only said something about who is the oldest, Lou or him. Thanks Dan Gould, I think some day I might purchase that CD. It´s always a bit difficult for me, since I´m more the musician type listener and less the collector. But Mraz-Al Foster sounds great. What a pity they chose "Atumn Leaves" as the only tune with Mobley: I mean nothing wrong with the tune and the Miles version with Wayne and Herbie is some of the greatest music ever, but I don´t like it , that on jam sessions so many of the not really good musicians want to play it..... , too bad they didn´t choose some of those fine Mobley compositions...... I read the old thread and one of the guys answers that he doesn´t like Al Foster . Different tastes, Foster is my favourite drummer and if I had those "three wishes" like in Pannonica´s book, one of them would be to play a gig with Al Foster on drums ..... I think I even saw that little photo of Hank Mobley on google pictures, I didn´t recognize him, a very old man with white hair.....

somewhere I heard or read that he said something a bit weird about the difficulties they had to find him and announce him the event. Then he said something that he thought he is the oldest member, but learned that Lou Donaldson was the oldest member. I´m not sure he said that, but maybe. I also hope someone has more recollection of the general content of his speech. And fotos. I heard somewhere that at the same time or later he played his last gig in NY. I heard some you tube of it but of course it is sad, but I never saw photos of Hank when he was a bit older. Almost all photos on album covers show a very young smiling man in his late 20´s, early 30´s..... Maybe the last photo I saw was on the back cover of a 1968 album, which strange to say shows Hank in Paris, though the album was done in NY. But he really looks handsome on it....

makes me feel that it might be time to smoke a cigar again. Normally I´m a (moderate) cigarette smoker, but once in a while , maybe now evenings are warm, sittin in the garden after sunset with some good music it might be cool.

Oh yes, I remember my enthusiasm when I first heard the album "Miles in Europe" . It was my third Miles album after "Milestones" and "Steamin´" and on first hearing I bursted with enthusiasm. If the first quintet was "my music", this was even more my music, that fast versions of "Milestones" and "Walkin´", those fantastic renditions of Autumn Leaves and All of You.... and lead to a live long admiration of Tony Williams...... During that time (I was a teenager) I stayed for a while at my sister´s and her husband´s place during summer vacation , and of course I had a batch of records with me and just spinned that "Miles in Europe" while one etaj down some craftman fixed something on the house, and later my sister told me that he had heard the music and all the time said "great, fantastic music you have here......."

Swedish schnapps is probably the best Charlie Parker on Verve, since it´s a session of vintage Bird with the finest fellow musicians, and without Norman Granz behind them adding a "Tommy Turk" to a Charlie Parker Quintet or adding Buddy Rich to a Bird-Diz-Monk-Session. Okay, the album "Now ´s the Time" from 1953 is also very fine.....

I remember somewhere I read a 1973 interview with Hank Mobley (it must have been the time when he already was in bad shape and forgotten), that he had really bitter feelings about BN and that they didn´t record his movie score and didn´t release all his recordings. Well I thought they recorded him so much, it´s quite strange that he complained about them. On the other hand: Somewhere I have read that Mobley was present at the 1985 BN festival in NY, where almost all surviving BN artists performed, but of course he couldn´t play anymore, but it was reportet he made a speech. Is there any photos of him from that event ?

Just a masterpiece as all of Herbie´s BN albums. As many of my generation, we first had heard the versions of "Maiden" and "Eye of the Hurricane" with VSOP and it was later that I got the BN . With the exception of George Coleman this is the whole later VSOP band. Anyway I head George Coleman with his own group about the same time (around the making of "Amsterdam after Dark".....

Mine is also 1978 Japanese pressing ! Vol. 1 remains my favourite for the compositions and the participation of Fats and Sonny. From the later one, I keep Side B of Vol. 3, and the whole Vol. 4 "Time Waits" for the participation of Philly J.J. and the compositions, which are great. Vol. 5 is ok, but the drumming of A.T. is a bit too subdued. On the other hand, Bud plays great on Dexter´s "Our Man in Paris".....

During my youth it was almost impossible to find. It seems it was OOP until I found a japan import LP , mostly for side B with Curtis Fuller. I can´t say too much positive things about side A : Sounds quite uninspired . And the most annoying thing is how Bud interferes with Paul Chambers´ solos. It´s more a battle in the worst sense than giving support to the soloist. Sometimes at "Frantic Fancies" (which anyway is not a composition, but just playing on the chord progressions of "Strike Up the Band"...., it really seems to fall to pieces. So mostly I spin only side B, not only for Fuller, but also because Bud sounds better on it.

Yes, this is the one. I remember now, that "Clifford" and "Midnight" was on it as same as "Blue´n Boogie" and "52nd Street Theme". Heard it at the place of an avantgarde saxophonist who praised Rollins and McLean from the not so much avantgarde scene, and spinned it while we had dinner and beer together....

He arrived completly aggresive and as soon as he came into the studio he said to Max that he is an racist. Then he was completly uncooperative as playing into the right mike, and he threw his cigarette ends on the floor. The junkey woman who was with him, flooded the bathroom (threw all the toilet paper into the WC and thought it´s fun), they noticed it when the water entered the recording room...... ad infinitum.....

That´s a fantastic record, with Woody Shaw if I remember. I must spin it again. The cover looks a bit like those early electric Miles albums "Bitches Brew" or "Live Evil".... Yes, but what a terrible story about the making of the record, in Max Bolleman´s book "Sounds", since he had the recording studio in Monster/Netherlands, where the record was made. I was shocked when I read it..... On the other hand, I saw a whole concert video of Woody from the same year 1985 , leading the Paris Reunion with Graham Moncur III, Nat Adderly and Leo Wright, which is fantastic and were Woody is very articulate and taking care of business.... But reading the story about the recording date for Timeless it´s almost a wonder that some good music could be recorded......

I don´t remember the title of the album, but maybe it was the "Now´s the Time" or something but I remember there was some old bop tunes with a new face, very fine played and that "Afternoon in Paris" was on it, and wasn´t it with Miles´ rhythm section in 1966 during a time where Miles due to ill health couldn´t tour and eventually the band members worked with Rollins ?

Good answer by Miles, so hip, so quick. But take care where you scotch tape them together . Some starters leave holes, let´s say if it´s a 32 bar song form , I mean with a bridge. Take care how you play from the 16th bar into the bridge. No edges, no holes.... it has to flow .....

Miles Davis´ "My Funny Valentine" live from 1964 (much more than the 1956 Prestige Version). Charles Mingus: "Orange was the Colour of her Dress" from Paris 1964 (and in that context: Mingus´ solo on it, a beauty !)

I saw Jaws and Sweets in 1978 in Vienna and it was wonderful. I had a Pablo album I think it was called "Sweets and Jaws" from the same time and I think it had Dolo Coker on piano and I think I gave it someone and didn´t get it back, or didn´t think that the fender rhodes sound on some tunes fits to Jaws and Sweets, but never found that album again.

I think I head at somebody´s place a Richie Cole Phil Woods two alto album in the 80´s and I think it had a long version of a bop tune, maybe it was Donna Lee. Fine stuff, they know how to play, though my real love as an alto sound always has been Jackie McLean. Yes, this was the Woods-Cole album. I think it had a strange track on side B that had some strange title I couldn´t understand and to me it sounded like something "pseudo free". I mean I really like a lot of free jazz, but this sounded like if two guys who are not into that bag just try to do something "atonal" ....

He was very much in the jazz magazines in the early 80s as a young super bebopper, and did albums with Phil Woods and others, and named his quartet "Alto Madness" and one of his albums was named after his daughter something like Annie Alto or Alto Annie, and then he made a record with a kind of country tenor saxophonist Boots Randolph that was his name and it was called Yaketee Madness or so (I don´t know how to write it, it´s not jazz and I don´t know it or don´t have a relation to country). I saw him in 1983 with a solid quartet, but didn´t know the names of the players, it was nice it was mainstream alto with p,b,dr, but nothing more...... Anyway that was a festival and from alto sax what remained in my mind was Jackie McLean and from the young musicians Donald Harrison´s alto in the Blakey formation...

I haven´t heard the record, but it seems it has some spirit of Max Roach (as you mentioned him in context with Cecil Bridgewater). Well I like other trumpet players more, I never heard him in other context than the several times I saw him with Max Roach live. Calvin Hill..... I remember I heard Roach in 1978 with Reggie Workman, and one or two years later with Calvin Hill and thought, Workman had a better sound. I don´t know what pick-up he used but the bass had somehow an ugly sound then. Workman had a much warmer sound.

@medjuck: I also thought very very often about this. I´m used to "like buttons" from the forum of my second passion (fishing).They call it "thank you" buttons.

I understood some of it but had difficulties to read that strange spelling. It looks like some very very old english from hunderts of years ago..... at least to me who got to "learn" the language mostly from reading liner notes and jazz books. I used to play quite a lot of bass in the late 70´s (self taught) but my main instrument has been the piano and eventually I dropped the bass, though I still have the bass fiddle in my music room. I think the reason I played some gigs on bass was, that during that time sometimes there were difficulties to find an acoustic bass if some guys chose to play so called "straight ahead"....

From the mid-sixties albums "Dippin´" is my favourite. He made so many albums for the BN Label I lost the trace. Most mid-fifties albums under his name are very very similar, not only from the personnel, but also from the album titles. The Mobley from the fifties I like most is with the 1954-55 Messengers, and very very nice on "Date with Jimmy Smith", and he holds his own on "A Blowing Session".... If I choose one single album that I´d keep it would be "Soul Station". Many praise his last BN album "Thinking of Home" but I have the impression that you already hear that Hank has breathing problems that affect his playing....

I think I remember that somewhere in the 80´s a lot of people liked Paquito d´Rivera´s "Explosion". Some people I knew had that album and I copied it on tape and if I played the tape for parties with friends or drivin with some folks with the car, they all liked it, also people who otherwise don´t listen to "jazz". In my case it had that "wow" effect on first and second listening . I had known Paquito from his playing with Diz so he already had a name.

What happened to Cindy Blackman ? She was a fantastic drummer and had that thing, that powerful drumming I like most. She was also with Jackie McLean. I somewhere read that she married Santano, and since that time I didn´t hear anymore from her at least in the genre of music I know.....